Domino Motion
by Jessica237
Summary: [SC] One touch is all it takes to fall. Sequel to Casual Observation.
1. one touch

**A/N: **Sequel to Casual Observation. A three-parter, like that one. And I'm starting to think that both of these could work their way fairly nicely into a series. Anyway, with this one we're still in preseason one here. Usual disclaimers apply; nothing recognizable is owned by me.

* * *

"Give it a rest, Tim!" Calleigh yelled from her living room, the incessant ring of the doorbell starting to rattle her nerves. "I'm coming!" With a sigh she rolled her eyes, yet she couldn't keep the corner of her lip from giving a slight twitch. Sure, the constant noise was getting annoying, but oddly enough, Calleigh couldn't help but find the tiny bit of humor in it. 

Only a tiny bit, though. It was just twenty to seven in the morning; nothing was completely humorous to her at this hour, despite the fact that she was a morning person.

Three months had passed since the first time she'd wrapped her arms around Tim as she rode with him on the Ducati. More accurately; three months, two weeks, and five days. Calleigh was certain she count it down to the hours and minutes as well, and, given the chance, the seconds. It'd given her quite the rush; a rush she was quickly growing more and more addicted to.

She tried not to think too much on the fact that the ride itself wasn't exactly what she was addicted to.

Pulling herself to her full height, Calleigh let out a breath and, pasting on her best annoyed look, swung the door wide open. She placed her other hand on her hip, trying to look as threatening as possible. "What the hell, Tim?"

Tim smirked; instead of making him feel threatened, the sight of Calleigh before him still in her bathrobe, her hair falling damply around her shoulders could only amuse him. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" he teased, his eyes discreetly traveling over her again.

Calleigh narrowed her eyes, ignoring him. "Do you have to do this every morning?"

Tilting his head, Tim pretended to be confused. "Do what every morning?"

"Bang on my door nonstop until I answer it, no matter how long it takes," Calleigh replied, trying her best to sound angry. It wasn't easy, not with him leaning casually against the doorframe with that playful smirk on his face.

Straightening up, Tim shifted from one foot to the other. "Uh…yeah." He winked. "Yeah, I do."

Calleigh stared. "Why?" she asked, lifting her hands exasperatedly.

He shrugged. "In case you don't hear it the first time?"

With a sigh, Calleigh shook her head, and suddenly, she couldn't stop it. It started with the tiniest twitch of her lips, and, trying to hold on to her dignity, she quickly ducked her head.

But she wasn't fast enough. Tim saw, and his lips mimicked Calleigh's, curling into a grin. "You're smiling," he teased. "You're not mad!"

"Oh hush," Calleigh replied, a small chuckle escaping her. She turned to walk away, leaving the door open. "Get in here and let me finish getting ready."

Tim snickered. "Running late, as always," he teased, stepping forward into her apartment, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, you're the one who's twenty minutes early this morning," Calleigh argued.

He shrugged. "Crime doesn't wait for you to straighten your hair."

Calleigh shot him a glare, unable to think up a clever retort. Her eyes drifted to the sofa, and for a brief moment she toyed with the idea of throwing a cushion at him. But she knew he'd only catch it and make some kind of comment about her throwing like a girl. Calleigh wasn't quite there yet, but she was learning. Everything she said around this man only gave him license to get farther and farther under her skin. He didn't just nudge her out of her comfort zone; he grabbed her, spun her around, and sent her flying out of it.

But oddly, for a comfort zone she'd lived in until she met him, Calleigh wasn't trying that hard to get back in and stay in it. Around Tim, she had to admit there was a bit of a thrill in the unknown. And after all, she'd always loved the thrill of flying.

Chuckling lightly at herself, Calleigh shook her head, heading back toward her bedroom. "Okay, fine. Just let me put on a shirt and we'll go. Have a muffin, if you'd like."

But Tim never even heard that offer. He'd been caught up in his teasing of her, and hadn't noticed until now that she'd been standing before him in nothing more than her robe. Well, he'd noticed at the door, but he hadn't thought once that she might not be wearing anything under it. He stared after her as she walked away from him, swearing with almost certainty that the way she swayed her hips was not accidental.

This wasn't right. Tim was the one who was supposed to be doing the teasing. Not Calleigh. He was supposed to be getting under her skin. He was supposed to be driving her crazy, not the other way around.

But somehow, those seemingly simple plans had backfired on him.

And it kind of made him wish more of his plans would backfire.

She disappeared from his sight, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, he didn't know if he'd call it relief, exactly. Relief was something he'd seek if he were dealing with something bad. And the tension he felt with Calleigh? Not exactly unwelcome.

Still, too much of that tension might make him snap and do something crazy, like pin her against the wall in ballistics, his lips on hers not giving her a chance to protest. Tim knew it wasn't a good sign when the idea stopped seeming so crazy to him. It was a feeling that started as soon as he saw her in the mornings, and it didn't leave him until he made it home at night, into bed and into a deep sleep. And even then, it didn't always leave him.

But the thing was, the worst part of it was also the best part. It'd started the first night he gave her a ride home on the Ducati. The next morning, he'd been at her place to pick her up and give her a ride to work. Very easily had it become routine, and it was as though neither of them noticed when her car had finally gotten fixed. Every day since that night, they'd gone to and left work together, on his bike.

And it drove him crazy.

It drove him crazy, having her that close to him, and not being able to turn around and kiss her. It drove him crazy, feeling her wrap her arms so tightly around his waist without being able to do the same to her.

It was a hazard, really. He was convinced that letting Calleigh ride on the back of his motorcycle was more dangerous to him than skydiving with a broken parachute in the middle of a lightning storm. Or a tornado.

But Tim was a guy; danger was fun. Danger was a challenge, and who was he to back down?

With a small smirk, he wandered quietly about her living room as he waited for her. He'd been in her apartment before, but he hadn't really gotten the chance to explore.

The room was too perfect, too lacking in chaos. Nothing was out of place, nothing at all. In fact, the room looked barely even lived in, but Tim knew that wasn't the case. Calleigh just liked order. Maybe a little too much, Tim decided as he walked slowly through the room. It was calm and controlled, just like Calleigh. He had the sudden urge to knock her perfect stack of magazines off of the coffee table, letting them fall to the floor in complete disarray. After all, wasn't that what he did with Calleigh herself? Reach into her control-ridden life and turn everything upside down?

Sunlight filtered in through her perfect, sheer white curtains, bouncing off of a golden object on her side table. The light reflecting from it caught Tim's eye, and as he stepped closer, he realized it was a picture frame. Realization struck, and Tim took another quick look around the room, noting the lack of pictures elsewhere. Maybe that was why the room seemed so unlike a living room. The small photograph encased in the golden frame on the table was the only picture anywhere. Granted, Tim didn't have many pictures around his place either, but this was Calleigh. It seemed kind of sad to him.

Gently he reached out, taking the picture into his hands, letting his fingers skim over the frame, unable to keep a smile from his lips as he gazed at the photo. It was of a beautiful little girl, three, maybe four years old at the most. Radiant blonde hair fell long over her shoulders, framing her delicate face. She wore a simple yet beautiful dress, and the smile on her face was a smile of true innocence, as of yet untainted by the dark horrors of the world.

The little girl wasn't alone in the picture. She was sitting out on what Tim assumed to be a front porch, and in her lap she held a little boy, possibly a brother or a cousin, but definitely family. Tim could tell that by the same head of radiant blonde hair that the boy sported. He looked no older than two, and Tim couldn't help but smirk at the determination in the boy's eyes. He obviously didn't want to be held, and Tim couldn't blame him. He probably hadn't wanted to be held much at that age either. The little boy did smile though, but it was obvious he'd been bribed to stop squirming long enough for the picture to be taken.

Eventually he was pulled from his deep study of the photograph as Calleigh, now fully dressed, came bustling her way into the connected kitchen. From the living room he watched her, though not setting the picture back down yet. She moved quickly, grabbing herself a muffin and a coffee cup from the cabinet. Tim's eyes lingered on her long blonde hair, identical to the girl's hair in the picture. He cleared his throat, and she turned to him, her eyes dropping to the picture in his hand. "Is this you, Cal?" he asked, though already knowing.

Calleigh hesitated, not exactly ecstatic that he'd come across that picture. "Uh, yeah," she replied. Part of her suddenly felt the need to be close to Tim, but instead she stayed in the kitchen, keeping the kitchen counter that separated the two rooms between them. Perhaps with a barrier between them, the subject wouldn't go as deep as she feared it would. "I was three there. It was at my grandmother's house, on the back porch."

Ah. So he'd been partly wrong about the location. But that wasn't what caught his mind. He turned the picture around, showing it to her as he pointed to the boy. "Who's this?"

Calleigh gave a sigh, a sad smile touching her lips. "That's my baby brother. Dylan." She met his eyes, silently asking him not to push.

But Tim had looked away, his own eyes once more studying the photo. "I thought so," he said, nodding. "He looks just like you. Well, like you did back then." He gently set the picture back on the side table, smirking slightly. "Except for the part where you're calm, and he looks like he's just in a hurry to move. Run around the yard or something."

Calleigh sighed again, pushing her muffin to the side. Suddenly she wasn't so hungry anymore. "Yeah, he was always like that. In a hurry to get out."

Tim caught the badly concealed note of sadness in her voice, but before he could question it, she'd turned her back to him again and changed the subject. Wisely, he decided to let her. For now.

"Did you eat something?" she asked, indicating the muffins. "Or can I fix you a cup of coffee?" she added, already moving toward the cabinet.

"Nah, I don't drink that stuff," he said, watching her turn back to him with a confused expression on her face. "Do you know what it does to your stomach?"

Calleigh grinned cheekily, forcing away all trace of her earlier discomfort. "As long as it keeps me awake, I don't really care what it does." She drained the last of her cup before placing it in the sink, turning back to Tim. "Now if you're not gonna eat anything, we'd better get to work."

She might be pretending that everything was okay again, but Tim knew he'd somehow pressed her buttons when she didn't say another word to him until they reached the parking lot at the lab. And even then, it was only to give her usual 'thank you' for the ride. After that she'd disappeared into work, and he didn't see her for hours. He had the strong suspicion that she was avoiding him.

He didn't have a clue why, though. All he'd done was ask her a question. Nothing wrong with that, was there?

Except, apparently, where there was everything wrong with it. Obviously he'd hit upon a sore spot in her life, something she didn't want to talk about. Tim understood that enough; after all, there were things in his life that he wasn't exactly ready to put out on public display.

But the photograph? That_ had_ been on display. Not exactly public, no; but it had ceased to be private the moment Tim set his eyes on it. And Calleigh had looked so happy in the picture; how could she be so affected by it now?

Still, as curious as he was, Tim decided it'd be better for both of them if he'd let it go. Just for now, at least. Until she felt able to bring it up on her own. He couldn't stand the tension that had risen between them from just a simple question. There was always tension between them, but this was completely opposite to the feeling of tension he'd come to enjoy. This was just painful. And it'd only been a few hours; he couldn't imagine what he'd feel if he ever had a real fight with her.

Bottom line, he cared about her, a lot more than he'd freely admit. She was a lot more than his best friend. And he hated that he'd upset her, albeit unknowingly. He knew he really hadn't done anything wrong, but he still wanted to make it up to her. A small smirk touched his lips; it looked like he was going to have to finally treat her to that dinner that she'd won from him ages ago.

He spent the rest of the morning looking over trace from their latest victim while trying to find the best way to ask Calleigh to dinner. After all, he couldn't just barge in and ask her. And he couldn't make it seem like a big deal. Tim had to do it casually; make it not seem like a date. Even though that was exactly what he wanted it to be.

He found his chance to slip it into conversation a little later in the afternoon. He had to stop by ballistics anyway to pick up her report for Horatio. Tim just hoped she wasn't still upset about the morning. He had a slight inkling that the fact that he hadn't seen her all day had more to do with the simple question he'd asked her than the fact that they'd been fairly swamped all day. Mentally he crossed his fingers as he paused outside her lab.

"Hey Calleigh!" he called out as he pushed through the door. He smiled as he saw her working at the table. "Do you have that report from the Callahan case? Horatio wants it," he said, striding over to her, stopping in front of the table.

She glanced at him briefly, though her smile was warm. "It's what I'm working on now, Tim. Give me ten minutes, okay?"

He nodded, setting his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands. "No problem."

She smiled and went back to her writing, and Tim took the opportunity to watch her. He stared at her for a moment; something was different about her. Tim knew it wasn't her mood; she was still cheerful with that slight edginess that had been there this morning. She hadn't changed clothes or anything, and the faint scent of her perfume still hung in the air, still intoxicating to him. He pursed his lips, watching her for a moment more before it hit him.

Her hair.

"You did something different with it," he muttered, almost to himself.

Calleigh glanced up, a clearly puzzled look upon her face. "What?"

Unconsciously, Tim reached out, brushing his fingers through the loose waves. "Was your hair curly this morning?"

Calleigh froze. Discreetly she breathed in deeply, fighting the ever-growing urge to close her eyes. How did he do this to her? Just months before, she'd been ready to walk down the aisle. And now, here she was, feeling as though time had frozen just because Tim Speedle had touched her.

And really? He wasn't even touching her. His fingers were just barely brushing through her hair; logically, she shouldn't even be able to feel it at all. But she did feel it, and it was enough to make her heart race; make her dizzy. And she couldn't move away from him. Her mind screamed for her not to let him take control like that, but she already knew there was no part of her body that was going to listen to her mind. No, the rest of her wanted more.

It was another moment before she realized he was calling her name. Forcing herself back to the present, she took a deep breath, wishing he'd stop playing with her hair, because really, it was making her all kinds of crazy. Yet at the same time, she dreaded the moment she lost his touch.

Giving what she hoped was a nonchalant smile, she shrugged, glancing back to the report she was writing. "Oh, yeah. You didn't give me a chance to finish drying it this morning," she replied, knowing her pause had been far too long. "It tends to curl a little when it air-dries."

Tim pursed his lips, finally letting his hand drop from her hair. Calleigh gave a half disappointed, half relieved sigh. "Maybe you should let it air-dry more often," he murmured, delighting in the smile that crept across Calleigh's lips.

"Maybe," she replied, her cheeks tinting just slightly. She shifted a bit on her stool, trying to get comfortable again. It wasn't an easy task; with one touch, Tim had set every nerve in her body on fire, and now she couldn't sit still.

As edgy as she was, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest at Tim's next move. Either he didn't notice her edginess, or, more likely, he did, and just wanted to add to it. He leaned over the table, glancing up at her with a grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. Calleigh breathed in deeply, consequently breathing in the scent of his cologne. It nearly was enough to make her dizzy all over again, and along with the way her heart was pounding, Calleigh was suddenly afraid she'd fall right off the stool. Surely he had to know what he did to her. "Can I help you?" she asked in what she hoped was an annoyed yet amused tone. Unfortunately, the words that met her ears had left her mouth in a breathless gasp.

Tim smirked, pretending to stare down at the report she'd been writing before he'd decided to turn the afternoon upside down. "You spelled that wrong, you know," he said cheekily, pointing out a word on her report.

Calleigh narrowed her eyes. "I did not!" she protested, leaning over to look at the page herself.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, you did." He snickered. "There's only one t, not two."

"I think I know how to spell, Speedle."

"Yeah. You think."

Calleigh glared and reached out to hit his shoulder, but Tim was faster. He'd moved out of her reach before she'd even attempted to hit him. He grinned teasingly. "Fine, if you think it has two t's, then you can just bring a dictionary to dinner tonight and then we'll see who's right."

"I know for a fact -" Calleigh paused, tilting her head. "Wait, what?"

"You know, a dictionary? That big book with all the words?"

"I know that!" Calleigh retorted as Tim snickered, obviously quite pleased with himself.

"Did you? Because you seemed confused."

"I wasn't!" Calleigh protested. "I mean, I am, but I'm not. I don't know - I was just -" she paused, knowing she was about to walk right into another of his teasing comments about her anxious rambling. Instead, she raised a questioning eyebrow, biting her lip. "Dinner?"

He shrugged. "Well, yeah. It's what I came in here for."

"You came in here to eat dinner."

Tim narrowed his eyes. "You know, you don't pull sarcasm off as well as I do. Not that many people can, though," he added. His seemingly annoyed look quickly became neutral, and once more he stared down at the report on the desk. "But yeah, that's why I came in here. I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner tonight," he asked calmly, almost as though it were an afterthought.

Calleigh stared at him. "Dinner," she repeated again. "Tonight?"

He grinned. "Yeah, why not? I owe you dinner, remember?" He smirked, slightly amused that she'd reminded him of that fact every day since she'd won that bet, but now she'd seemed to forgotten about it. Tim briefly toyed with the idea of throwing in a clever remark about dessert afterward, if for no other reason than Calleigh would probably hear it the wrong way and end up flustered.

She looked down at the table, fidgeting briefly with her watch. "Um…okay," she replied slightly less than eloquently, though to her surprise, Tim for once seemed to overlook her nervousness.

He nodded. "Okay, right after shift; is that fine?"

Calleigh nodded in return. "Yeah; yeah, that's fine."

Tim smirked. "Good. It's a date." With that he winked, and he turned around to leave, leaving Calleigh once more alone.

She breathed out, trying to calm her racing mind. All trace of rational thought had left her, leaving her only with the echoes of Tim's last statement. She neither remembered the discomfort he'd invoked in her earlier, nor did she realize that he'd left ballistics without picking up the report he'd supposedly been there to get. "Chill out, Duquesne," she muttered to herself, closing her eyes. "It's not a date. Not even close." She nodded, as though trying to seem more convincing to herself.

But despite what she told herself, Calleigh couldn't help the grin that spread over her lips.


	2. one glance

**Well, I had to introduce my guy sometime. :)**

* * *

Tim's ears perked up as he opened the door to the locker room, immediately greeted by the sweet sound of her giggle. With a smirk, he slipped into the room, intent on sneaking up behind her, surprising her. 

But his smirk quickly became a frown, as he became the one surprised. Not pleasantly surprised, either.

He stood, lurking just around the corner in the shadows, watching the scene before him. He knew it was probably nothing; he also knew that technically, it was none of his business. She could talk to whoever she wanted.

But still, even though he knew all that, Tim couldn't avoid feeling that stab of jealousy.

No longer was Calleigh the new girl in the lab. A few days after their dinner date (the thought still brought a smile to his face; he couldn't remember ever enjoying dinner quite that much before in his life), a new face had joined them at CSI - Eric Delko, straight out of underwater recovery. Tim didn't have anything against the younger man; in fact, since then, he'd been paired with Delko on most of his cases, and Tim had struck up quite a quick friendship with the new guy.

But there was the problem. Since Delko had been hired, he'd always been paired with a higher ranking CSI so he could learn the ropes. Tim didn't mind working with him, but since Delko had joined them, Tim hadn't worked a single case with Calleigh. He missed her; he missed the amazing team they made together. It was to the point where if he didn't get a chance to spend more than five minutes with her soon, he was going to go crazy.

That chance was what he was currently trying to seize. He'd become desperate for it, and he'd thought he found his chance when Horatio had asked him to find Delko and Calleigh and bring them to the layout room in ten minutes. He knew he'd have to find both of them, not just Calleigh, but he'd never imagined he'd find them together.

But that's exactly how he found them. Together, in the locker room. And Tim couldn't help being jealous as he watched them. They were sitting on the bench, facing each other, Delko laying down a few pictures on the bench between them. With each picture he showed her, the light in Calleigh's eyes brightened, and her smile widened. Once, she even gasped softly, leaning a bit closer to him as she lifted one of the pictures from the bench, gazing at it intently.

"Wow," she murmured, mesmerized. "These are amazing."

Delko chuckled. "Trust me, it's even better in person," he insisted. "Once you get down there and see it all for yourself; it makes these pictures look completely dull. Fake, even."

He slipped closer to her, close enough to touch her without even trying, and Tim growled, suddenly not feeling very friendly at all toward the younger CSI.

Not that it mattered, since Calleigh displayed enough friendliness for the both of them. "Really?" she asked, truly amazed. "Wow…"

Delko laughed. "You've really never been diving, have you?"

Calleigh shook her head. "Eric, I wouldn't know the first thing about diving."

He grinned. "It's not that difficult. If you have a good teacher, that is," he clarified smugly with a wink.

Playfully Calleigh rolled her eyes. "My, you're certainly a modest one, aren't you?" she teased.

"I do what I can," Delko smirked, chuckling when Calleigh gave him a light, good-natured shove. He shifted slightly, the effect being that he was even closer to her than before. "If you want, I can take you," he suggested quietly.

Calleigh's eyes sparkled, and Tim had to grab onto the wall in order to keep himself hidden. It was all he could do not to race in there and break up this little scene. This was very nearly killing him. He wanted to be the one impressing Calleigh. He wanted to be the one making her laugh. He wanted to be the one to take her diving, never mind the fact that he didn't like the ocean, nor did he know anything about diving at all.

But to his relief, the sparkle faded slightly, and Calleigh bit her lip thoughtfully. "I don't know," she said.

"Why not?" Delko pressed. "It's beautiful down there; it's a rush like none other. You'd love it," he said with a grin.

Calleigh gave a playful grin. "What can I say; I'm a bit more of a land critter." She paused, shrugging. "Besides, I don't like sharks."

"I'd protect you," he said with a wink, now downright flirting. Calleigh giggled again, not exactly opposed to it. "I won't let any sharks get you."

Calleigh grinned. "Well, aren't you sweet?" she drawled.

"I get that a lot."

"I'll bet you do."

He grinned smugly. "I do. And it's true, and it means you should go with me one day."

Calleigh chuckled. "I said, teasingly, mind you, that you were sweet. I never said I trusted you to get me out on the open water with nothing but sharks, limited oxygen, and fish that sting," she declared, and Tim had to restrain himself from doing a bit of a victory dance.

A faint glimmer of disappointment crossed his features, but it was gone as soon as it had come, replaced again by with his boyish grin. "Well, if you change your mind…"

She nodded. "I'll come find…" she paused, looking up and finally noticing Tim standing in the shadows, "…you. Hey, Tim."

Tim cringed slightly, wondering how obvious it was that he'd been eavesdropping. He stepped fully around the corner, nonchalantly crossing his arms and leaning against a locker. "Hey. Uh, Horatio wants us in the layout room," he stated, getting to the point. He didn't quite feel like making conversation.

His subdued mood followed them into the layout room, only interjecting a syllable or two every now and then, preferring to let the other three speak. Aside from a few questioning looks from Calleigh, his silence went unnoticed. His mood only worsened as the discussion moved along. It was a big case, a big lead; he should've at least been relieved. But he could only summon forth bitterness when Horatio told Delko to follow up on it.

"Go with him, Calleigh."

He knew those four words could sour his entire day. Tim would have rather gone with Delko himself. Sure, he still wouldn't be working with Calleigh, but at least Calleigh wouldn't be working with Delko.

Moments later he was brought back to the present to find that the room was now empty, save for himself and Calleigh. And there was that questioning look again. He wished she would stop doing that; it was almost like she could read his very mind, not to mention every last word scribbled upon his heart.

"Everything okay?" she asked quietly, laying a hand on his arm.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"You sure? You're acting…odd."

"Thanks," he replied dryly.

Calleigh opened her mouth to reply, but second thoughts caused her to close it again, nodding slightly. "Okay. Well. I'm gonna go," she said quietly, gesturing to the door. "Eric was pretty excited about this one; I figured I'd better catch up to him before he gets too involved." She turned away, but didn't quite get the chance to take a step.

"He likes you, you know," Tim blurted, a little more bitterly than he'd intended.

Calleigh shrugged. "Well, that's good. I didn't want the poor kid to hate me," she said, flashing her smile to Tim.

Tim rolled his eyes. "Calleigh, he has a crush on you."

Calleigh laughed, looking at Tim as though the idea were absurd. "What? No, he doesn't!"

"Actually…"

"Tim, I just had my first real conversation with him today. Technically he just met me."

Tim scoffed. _Yeah, well, that didn't stop me. _He shook his head, his heart stopping at the tiny grin he saw playing at Calleigh's lips. Surely this didn't amuse her. There was absolutely nothing amusing about any of this. This could very well be a disaster. Groaning inwardly, Tim rolled his eyes. "Doesn't mean he doesn't have…ulterior motives."

To his slight irritation, Calleigh only laughed. "Well, I certainly appreciate you looking out for me," she teased, playfully nudging his shoulder, "but I think I'm going to be okay. We're just headed out to that scene on Flagler, Tim."

"You never know what could happen at a crime scene," he challenged, narrowing his eyes.

"Wow, you're right," Calleigh deadpanned. "What on earth might possibly happen at a crime scene? Some investigation, maybe?"

Tim scowled. "He'd better not be doing any investigating," he muttered under his breath.

Calleigh frowned. "What?"

He shook his head, letting out a sigh. "Nothing."

Calleigh tilted her head, slight confusion evident on her face. "No, really. What is it?"

"Calleigh, it's nothing, okay?"

Calleigh frowned, though she nodded in assent. Tim sighed with relief, thinking the subject was closed, though he should've known better with the glint of realization that flashed through her eyes. She stared at him, a hand on her hip. "Are you jealous?" she teased, gazing at him with that smile that got him every time.

Tim stared at her, hoping his incredulity seemed more genuine to her than it did to him. "What? No way," he said quickly, shaking his hands.

Calleigh giggled, and there was that crazy urge again. That urge that Tim was feeling more and more these days. The urge to grab her and just pull her to him and crush his lips to hers. With each day that passed, it was getting harder and harder to resist. And to make it worse, suddenly she'd reached across the desk, tapping him playfully on the arm. "I think you are," she teased, winking smugly.

She was just teasing, but she couldn't have hit the mark better if she'd tried.

Tim shifted anxiously, pretending to busy himself with looking through the casefile on the table. He tried to block out the truth of her statement; he tried to block her out. But that was something that never worked.

"Okay, well. I'd better get going so Eric doesn't beat me there and get too far involved with it. So I'll see you later?" Calleigh asked.

"Whatever," Tim muttered bitterly, though he regretted it immediately upon seeing the slight flicker of hurt in Calleigh's eyes. He sighed. "Yeah, I'll see you later."

Still confused, Calleigh bit her lip and nodded slightly. Without another word she turned and left, leaving Tim alone with his bitterness.

It was a few hours later that she finally trudged back into the lab. The crime scene was fairly large, and Delko had taken the inside of the house while Calleigh looked around the perimeter. And it was just her luck that as she was halfway finished, a typical afternoon rainstorm rolled into the area, soaking her within minutes.

Calleigh gave a shiver as she pulled open her locker. When a cursory glance around the locker room proved that she was alone, she quickly pulled her soaked top over her head, tossing it onto the bench behind her. She lifted herself to her tiptoes, silently cursing whoever had had the bright idea to put the hooks at the very top of the locker. And then she silently cursed herself for the bright idea to hang her bag with her spare clothes in it from those distressingly out-of-reach hooks.

Tim had hung the bag up there in the first place. Calleigh couldn't help but wonder if he'd done it for her knowing that eventually she'd be in a situation like this - cold, wet, wearing shoes that were a good three inches shorter than her usual heels. She wouldn't put it past him; he did like to get under her skin. A tiny smile flitted across her lips at the thought of paging him to get the bag down for her, but as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she gave an intense shiver, partly from feeling the cool air of the locker room against her bare skin, but mostly from the sheer thought of Tim seeing her like this.

Eventually she managed to pull the bag from the hook, and she pulled out a blessedly dry shirt. Quickly she pulled it over her head, smoothing it out and shaking her damp hair out of it. She let out a sigh of relief, though that relief was short-lived; within the next second, she thought her heart might stop.

"What was that?" asked a quiet, curious voice behind her, and Calleigh jumped, having never heard the door open.

She placed a hand over her heart, though she didn't turn to face him. "What, do you enjoy sneaking up on me today?"

He took a step closer to her. "Not just today. Every day." He snickered. "Now, are you gonna answer my question?"

"What was what?" she asked. She could almost feel his piercing stare on her lower back, and a small, knowing smile played at her lips. She felt him close in behind her, and as moments before she thought her heart might stop, it now raced with inexplicable anticipation.

"This," Tim murmured, gently placing a hand on her lower back, just above her covered tattoo. Even through the fabric of her shirt, he could feel the heat of her body, and once again that dizzy sensation flooded over him.

She looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes wild. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?" she suggested quietly, daring him.

The look in her eyes sent Tim's entire being into overdrive. His mind and heart raced. His spine tingled. His body felt as though it might combust if he didn't soon pin her against the lockers and kiss her feverishly. He had _never_ wanted anybody this badly before.

Softly he slid the bottom of her shirt up her back a bit, revealing to him once more the tiny butterfly at the base of her spine. "A remnant of your adventurous days?" he murmured, hearing their conversation at the airport echoing in his mind as though it were yesterday.

Calleigh breathed in deeply, feeling the pad of his thumb brush over every line on the butterfly. "You could say that," she gasped. "I got it the first time I was here in Miami."

"You've been here before?" He couldn't pull his hands away from her. Her skin was so soft, and he wanted to feel more of it. With more than just his thumb. He closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath of his own as he struggled to control his thoughts. His thumb, however, continued tracing the butterfly.

She nodded, lost in sensation. "When I was in the academy, on the spur of the moment, my then-boyfriend just decided, hey, let's go to Miami for the weekend. So we did. And I ended up going home with a tattoo." She laughed, her face tinting slightly as she remember that weekend so long ago. "I was serious when I said I was crazy back then."

Tim gave a soft chuckle. "Too bad I didn't know you back then." Slowly, his fingers edged their way upward, sliding away from the tiny butterfly, as his feet shifted as well, bringing his body ever closer to hers. He closed his eyes and breathed her in, the scent of her intoxicating him. She was addictive, far more so than any drug, and he hadn't even kissed her or even held her.

This was what he'd missed. He'd worked far too many cases without her; he'd spent way too much time away from her, and now, being so close to her, it was like he was touching her for the first time; breathing her in again for the first time. It was almost enough to knock him to his knees, all over again.

Calleigh couldn't help but tense as his fingers slid gently over her back. It wasn't the butterfly anymore that he was studying. It was _her._ Her skin; her body. Granted, it was only a tiny patch of skin on her lower back, but it was still enough to set her entire body on fire. It was overwhelming; it had started with just one coincidental, maybe even innocent glance at her tattoo, and then with his touch along her back, it'd escalated into so much more. He'd pulled her into a time and place where nothing existed save for the two of them. And truly, it was a place where she'd be more than content to stay.

Involuntarily she squirmed, his fingers trailed over a particularly ticklish patch of skin. "Tim," she breathed, feeling herself slip back down to earth, piece by piece.

Her voice broke his trance, and he didn't know whether to be relieved or frustrated. He was so close behind her; he could feel the heat from her body. Lost in his trance, he'd almost given in, finding that resisting the temptation to lower his lips to the creamy skin of her neck took more self control than he thought he could spare. Relieved he was; they were already in a bit of a compromising position to begin with, but Tim knew he could explain away the fact that his fingers were on her back a lot easier than he could if his lips were sliding across her skin. But for that very reason, he was also frustrated. He needed her. He craved the feeling of her skin beneath his lips; his lips moving against her lips.

Tim had never been more frustrated in his life.

Or so he thought. His frustration skyrocketed as the most unwelcome visitor chose to interrupt their special, private moment. Like sand through his fingers, the moment slipped away from him in tiny pieces, without any guarantee of ever getting it back again.

"What a day, huh?" Delko exclaimed, bursting through the locker room door. He continued on to his locker, not noticing the increased tension hanging in the air, nor the way Tim had jumped away from Calleigh, moving to his own locker as Calleigh blushed and turned back to hers. Completely oblivious, Delko continued talking. "Three big cases, three big convictions. Now that's why I left underwater recovery for CSI."

"That's nice," Tim replied sarcastically. He honestly could not care less. It might be different if he hadn't witnessed Delko and Calleigh in the locker room earlier.

_But really,_ that nagging voice in his mind reminded him, _it's your own damn fault. Nobody forced you to eavesdrop. Nobody forced you to torture yourself by listening to that. Nobody but yourself, Speedle. _

Oh, how he hated that voice. It was the same voice that kept screaming, _Admit it, you're jealous. You want her. You want her to want you. You're falling in love with her and there's nothing you can do about it. _

He shook his head, attempting to clear it. He closed his locker, a little more forcefully than was required. Turning around, he caught Delko's questioning look. "What?" Tim asked, a bit defensively.

"I asked if you guys wanted to go grab a drink or something to celebrate?" Delko grinned. "My treat. There's this great little bar a few miles down the way. I know the owner; always gives me a discount."

Tim blinked. He glanced at Calleigh, her eyes still averted from him. "Uh, sure," he replied. After the day he had, he could use a drink.

Delko nodded. "Calleigh?"

Calleigh sighed, hesitating. Delko didn't notice, but Tim picked up on it immediately. Slowly she closed her locker, sliding her purse onto her shoulder as she turned to them. "Thanks," she started, addressing Delko before her eyes shifted and locked again on Tim's, "but I don't think that'd be a good idea," she added quietly. "I think I'm just gonna head home…"

"Maybe another time, then," Delko suggested, not seeming any less enthusiastic.

"Yeah, maybe," Calleigh replied, pushing her hair behind her ears. She switched her purse from her left shoulder to her right, and Tim tilted his head thoughtfully. It was one of her giveaways; when she was tense or nervous, if she had something in her hand or on her shoulder, Calleigh would switch it to the other side.

She lifted a hand to her mouth, covering what Tim wasn't sure was a fake or a real yawn. "I think I'm just gonna head on home. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, speaking directly to Tim. He nodded, and she turned, moving toward the door.

"Hey, Calleigh? Same time tomorrow?"

She hesitated, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She really had come to love their shared bike ride to work each morning, and she'd missed it dearly when she'd woken up to rain this morning. She smiled to herself, nodding slowly. "Yeah, same time."

And with one last indecipherable look back, she was gone.


	3. one kiss

**So...who out there remembers this story? Heh. I do apologize for taking so long with this...the whole story was finished back in January, but then, chapter three decided it didn't actually want to be chapter three after all, lol. So the whole thing, every word, had to be rewritten. But I think it turned out better this way. So finally, chapter three. :)**

* * *

Never before had Calleigh been so relieved to finally clock out of work. 

She loved what she did for a living; sometimes, it was even preferable to be at work than at her apartment alone. But tonight was different. After the day she'd had; after the day they'd all had, Calleigh couldn't wait to be as far from here as possible.

It was a beautiful night; anybody could see that. The moon shined brightly in the eastern sky, and with a smile, Calleigh could imagine the soft glow it cast on the ocean. Not really wanting to head home just yet, she contemplated a quiet, peaceful walk on the beach, hoping to clear her mind of the day before she attempted to go home and sleep.

But as finally she stepped out from the doors of the crime lab, her mind quickly became otherwise occupied. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the solitary figure perched on the steps mere yards away from her, and a sympathetic smile touched her lips as she watched him. As bad as her day had been, Calleigh knew for a fact that the case had worn far harder on Tim than it had on her. He was right there with her in the perfectionist department, and knowing that his work had been for nothing, on top of knowing there was nothing else he could do had really taken its toll on him.

"You gonna stand there all night?"

Calleigh gave an embarrassed grin. "How'd you know I was here?" she asked, quietly making her way over to him. Gently she laid a hand on his shoulder as she lowered herself to the step next to him, forcefully convincing herself it was for her support, or maybe his comfort, and not because she just wanted to touch him.

He gave her a sideways glance, smirking slightly. "I could feel you staring."

"I was not staring," Calleigh defended, grinning despite herself.

Tim snickered. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of people stare at me."

"Oh really."

"All the time, Calleigh." Tim gave a fake, disgruntled sigh. "The trials and downfalls of being so damn good looking. It's a wonder I make it through the day, really."

Calleigh stared at him. "Unbelievable…"

Tim nodded, watching Calleigh with a completely straight face. "It is, isn't it? People should really get lives, you know?"

Calleigh couldn't reply; the seriousness of his tone coupled with the cocky gleam in his eye was enough to send her into giggles. She let the laughter bubble over her, so thankful that the darkness from earlier was seeming to lift. She felt Tim's eyes on her; she could sense the amused smirk upon his lips, and she glanced down, slightly embarrassed. "Thanks for that," she murmured, once her giggles had died away.

Tim lifted an eyebrow, slightly confused. "For what?"

She shrugged lightly, her smile widening slightly in thanks. "Making me laugh," she clarified. "After a day like today, I needed that."

"Ah." Tim nodded, understanding fully now. "Yeah…today isn't a day I want to relive anytime soon."

"Tell me about it." Calleigh gave a small shudder, details of the case coming back to her with a vengeance. "Cases like this are bad enough, but when we can't find the answers…" she trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

Tim lifted a hand, intending to place it lightly on her arm, but something held him back this time. Instead it fell lightly back to his side. "Sometimes there just aren't any answers to be found. No matter what we do."

Calleigh sighed heavily. "I hate days like today."

The smile was completely gone from her face now, as was the sparkle from her eyes. Tim frowned, trying to think of any way he could put them back where they belonged. There was only one thing from the day that he could think of, and while Calleigh might not exactly approve of it, Tim knew it would make her laugh.

He smirked, still amused at the look that had been on Delko's face. "I don't know about you, but I can say my day wasn't a complete wash," he commented, gazing at Calleigh appraisingly. _Especially not now that you're here._ He shook his head slightly in an attempt to clear it, but that something he was finding nearly impossible to do these days. Whenever he was with Calleigh, all his thoughts, all his actions, everything revolved around Calleigh. She'd become the center of his world, and he'd never even gotten a say in the matter.

Not that he'd object to any of it, though. For the first time since he was a kid, Tim was really quite happy, despite even the events of earlier in the day. He was smiling more in a day now than he had in the last five years combined. He actually looked forward to coming to work each day; no longer was it something he _had_ to do. Since he'd met her, his world had been turned upside down, but things seemed to fit better that way. Everything was finally falling into place for him. And it was all because of Calleigh.

All this, and he'd never even kissed the woman.

_Yet,_ he added silently. He grinned absently, jolted back to the present only as he felt Calleigh's elbow nudging his side. "Well?" she asked, watching him curiously. "What happened?"

His grin faded slightly; he had no idea what she was talking about. "What?"

She giggled, the sound undoing him all over again. Her eyes sparkled in amusement as she spoke. "You said the day wasn't all bad," she said, shrugging. "What was good about it?"

Again he smirked, remembering. He gave a nonchalant shrug. "Ah, it was nothing. Delko and I just picked up another case earlier…"

Calleigh grinned. "Oh God, Tim, what'd you do to him?"

"Hey, who says I did anything to him?" Tim asked defensively, though unable to keep the telling smirk from his lips.

"Please, Tim," Calleigh said, rolling her eyes playfully, "have you passed up a chance yet to be mean to him?"

"I'm not mean!"

"Tim."

Tim smirked. "I'm just having fun with the kid."

"Tim," she repeated, trying to inflect a bit of sternness to her voice, but it didn't work as well as she'd hoped.

"It was just too good of a chance to pass up, Cal," he said in his defense. "You'd have done it too."

Playfully she rolled her eyes. "Well, I wouldn't know, since you won't tell me what you did."

He snickered. "Okay. So there was this murder."

"There's always a murder. Get on with it."

Tim grinned. "Now, now, Cal, there's not _always_ a murder. Sometimes it's just a suspicious death and it turns out not to be a murder. Sometimes somebody just slips and hits their head because they're clumsy."

Calleigh laughed, lightheartedly pushing Tim on the arm. "Okay, so not everything's a murder. Now just get on with the story! Don't make me beg," she whined, grinning.

"Alright, fine! Just don't hit me," he teased. "So this murder. I was busy, so I sent Delko to Alexx to get the autopsy reports. Only, she wasn't exactly done with the autopsy yet. And, well," he paused, grinning deviously, "lets just say what he found when he walked into the morgue isn't something you see everyday in underwater recovery."

Calleigh laughed. "And I'll bet you sent him in there just in time for the best part, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah. Next time I saw Delko, two, maybe three hours later, he was still looking like he'd seen a ghost." He smirked. "Gotta love newbie hazing. I had the exact same thing done to me when I first started here, except I took it far better than Delko did."

"Of course you did. Big, strong, macho man. I bet you handled it with complete grace," Calleigh teased, patting his arm playfully.

"Damn right I did," Tim declared, smirking smugly.

Calleigh shook her head, a grin crossing her lips as she resolved to ask Alexx about it later. "So, how come I never went through any of that, uh, newbie hazing?" she asked, amused.

Tim winked. "Well see, that's because you're special," he said with a grin.

She laughed. "Oh, is that it?"

Tim shrugged. "Well, that, and because you worked in the lab in New Orleans and it wouldn't have been anything new to you." He paused, running a hand through his hair. "And because I was afraid you'd shoot me if I tried anything."

"Oh, come on, Tim," Calleigh laughed, winking teasingly. "I wouldn't do that; you're far too useful for that!" Tim blinked confusedly, pulling another laugh from Calleigh. "I'd have just been mad, and threatened you, and then made you do all my dirty work for me for revenge. You know, dumpster diving, anything having to do with bugs…that sort of thing."

"Wow, thanks, Cal," Tim said dryly.

"Anytime, Tim," Calleigh replied brightly, giggling at the sour expression he wore. She shifted slightly, trying to find a less uncomfortable position.

Tim glanced at her, lifting a brow as she struggled, looking for comfort on the hard steps. "You don't seem to be in a hurry to get out of here," he remarked. Earlier, getting away from the lab had been the only thing she'd wanted to do. And now that she had that chance before her, she wasn't taking it so readily.

But then again, neither was he. He couldn't put his finger on it, but after a day like today, there was just something that bothered him about heading home.

She shrugged. "Don't really feel much like going home tonight to an empty apartment. I thought maybe I'd go grab something quick to eat and maybe take a walk on the beach; take some time alone to think, maybe." Pausing, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Unless you wanted to come with me," she added, surprising both of them.

"What makes you think I'd want to walk on the beach with you?" he teased lightly.

Calleigh chuckled. "Well, it's not like you're doing much of anything productive right now," she pointed out. "So why not?"

"Maybe I don't like the beach."

"But you like me," Calleigh observed, grinning smugly.

"Since when?" Tim challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Calleigh laughed. "Oh, only since the first time you saw me."

"Yep. You got me. You're just so irresistible," Tim deadpanned, playfully rolling his eyes. Outwardly, he was joking. Inwardly, however, he couldn't deny it was true. "But no amount of likeability is going to get me to walk on the beach with you," he smirked, stretching slightly on the step. "No matter how much I like you; or rather, how much you think I like you, it's not going to change the fact that I hate sand."

"But it's everywhere around here!" Calleigh exclaimed, amused. "If you hate sand, then, of all places, why on earth would you be here in Miami?"

Frowning, Tim tensed and looked away from her. "That's a story for another time," he muttered, deeming the subject dropped. She'd hit upon a subject that he wasn't even comfortable with himself; he wasn't sure how he could share it with her. Even though she might know everything else about him, this was something he'd rather keep to himself. For the moment, at least.

Calleigh's smile faded, and she watched him for a moment. "Well, maybe you'll tell me sometime," she said quietly.

"Yeah, maybe."

Awkwardly, Calleigh looked away, sensing that somehow, that was a touchy subject for him. Wrapping her arms around herself, she rubbed her arms, shivering a bit herself in the evening air. She inched closer to him on the step, silently insisting that it was for warmth and warmth alone.

She pursed her lips, suddenly aware just how much alike she and Tim were. She'd hit a subject he didn't want to talk about, and he'd closed himself off from her. It was the same thing she had done that morning so long ago when he had asked about the picture on her table. He'd asked, and she'd never really given him much of an answer.

"He was fifteen," Calleigh said softly, propping her elbows on the step behind them. She'd turned her head slightly, watching him with an unreadable gaze as she nibbled slightly at her lip.

Tim lifted an eyebrow, not making the connection. "Who?"

She smiled sadly, letting out a deep breath. It'd been weeks ago; of course he didn't remember the beginning of this conversation. With any one else, she might have used that to her advantage and let the subject go, but this was Tim. Tim, who knew more about her than most of her family did; Tim, who knew more about her than her ex-fiancé ever had.

It was a scary thought. Nobody had ever known her like Tim knew her, and there wasn't even anything between them but friendship…was there? Calleigh honestly couldn't describe the depth of her feelings for him. If she were talking lust, then yeah, that was there. She wanted him, no doubt. But it was deeper than that, way deeper. He got to her like no one else. He made her feel like no one else. He was like a thief in the night, breaking into her life and stealing her heart right out of her chest.

Although, generally a thief wasn't someone you'd welcome back again and again, or perhaps even beg to come back. A thief wasn't someone you wanted.

She forced that from her mind, pulling herself back to the present, and back through the door she'd, for the first time, willingly opened before her instincts could close it again. "My brother…" She sighed. "You saw him…the picture in my living room?"

"Oh yeah," Tim replied, nodding. Calleigh sighed, pulling her eyes away from his as she turned her head. She didn't volunteer anything else, and normally, Tim would've backed off, choosing to respect her personal space. But she'd brought this up. He'd accepted the subject as closed, and now she was the one to bring it up again, after pushing it away in the first place. Quietly he shifted on the step, angling his body more toward hers. "What happened?" he asked, his voice slightly hushed.

Calleigh pursed her lips, hesitating for the moment. When she spoke, it was with an almost totally concealed tremor, but Tim's ears had become so attuned to the many different lilts of her voice that he noticed it without fail. "Dylan was fifteen," she repeated. "Fifteen, excellent grades, captain of the basketball team. He was already even getting scholarship offers from some of the best schools around."

"Sounds like the perfect kid," Tim commented.

Calleigh smiled. "He really was, Tim." She looked down, shaking her head. "I just…I don't…he didn't deserve any of this…" She let out a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She fidgeted slightly with her bracelet, and though the movement was slight, almost hidden, it did not go unseen by Tim's eyes. It was all he could do not to reach out and take her hand in his. He didn't speak; he simply gazed at her, silently urging her to continue, silently trying to reassure her.

"It was a Tuesday night in late spring; a school night," she continued after a moment. "He'd gone out with some people to celebrate a friend's birthday. He was just learning to drive and wasn't comfortable driving by himself yet, especially at night, so he rode out there with a friend. It started getting late, and Dylan had a chemistry test the next day and really needed to get home. The boy he'd ridden with was otherwise involved, I guess you could say. So, Dylan called me, asked if I could pick him up, and when I got there, he asked me to let him drive home, since I was with him. And…I let him."

Tim could somewhat see where this was headed, and his heart broke for her. " Cal…"

Anxiously she tucked her hair behind her ears, feeling her eyes begin to sting. "I trusted him; he'd been learning and he was good; he wasn't a daredevil like my other brothers. He was actually better than me already. So I let him drive, without a second thought."

His hand found its way to her knee, squeezing gently, reassuringly. "What happened?" he asked again, barely above a whisper.

She shook her head. "I…I still don't remember. Aaron - one of my other brothers - told me later in the hospital that it was a drunk driver; apparently he'd slammed into us as we were in an intersection. But I don't remember any of it. One minute I was in the car, laughing with my baby brother, and then the next, I was waking up in the hospital and realizing I'd never get to hear him laugh again."

Tim's hand tightened on her knee. "Were you okay?"

Closing her eyes, Calleigh nodded slowly. "Broken arm and a concussion, but other than that, I was fine. But Dylan…" She squeezed her eyes even tighter, fighting the distant sting of tears with all her might. "They said he died about an hour before I woke up."

"You never got to say goodbye," Tim murmured, wanting so badly to take her in his arms. Calleigh slowly shook her head, a deep sigh escaping her lips. She looked so fragile to him in that moment, so unlike the strong, unbreakable woman he'd come to know and, if he'd let himself admit it, love. He knew this wasn't a side of Calleigh that she showed to just anyone, and the fact that she could let him in like this was overwhelming to Tim.

Gently he lifted his hand from her knee, slowly raising it to her face. His fingertips ghosted softly along her cheek as he tucked her hair behind her ear, removing the final shield between his eyes and hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered, the words spoken with such softness they were almost lost to the night.

She nodded. "Yeah, me too," she replied softly. She repressed a shiver, realizing the way Tim's touch lingered against her skin; obviously, he wasn't in too much of a hurry to pull away. Vaguely she hoped he couldn't hear the way her heart pounded against her chest as clearly as she could hear it.

Absently Calleigh rubbed her arms, this time unable to stop the chill that rushed through her, though this time it was caused by the soft breeze blowing through the night.

The tiny motion caught Tim's eye. "You cold?" he asked quietly.

Calleigh smiled. "Just a little. It's no big deal."

Tim frowned. "Come 'ere," he quietly entreated. Not giving her a chance to say no, he shifted enough on the step to drape his arm over her shoulders, pulling her body closer to his.

Calleigh sighed, feeling warmth spread through her as soon as he touched her. She didn't fight him, instead allowing him to pull her closer. An immense feeling of security washed over her, chasing away the pain of what she'd just revealed to him. Giving in to one of her own desires as well as his, Calleigh gently lay her head on his shoulder, breathing in deeply, finding herself dizzy from the scent of him. It wasn't something she'd felt before with anybody else, this intense contentment; the sheer comfort of being in his arms. She knew she could easily fall asleep in this position; in his arms. It was something she could very, very easily get used to.

With a tiny smile touching his lips, Tim lifted his gaze the sky, watching the stars as they twinkled above them. "You know, I might just have to take you up on that walk on the beach tonight."

Calleigh grinned, playfully nudging his side. "I thought you didn't like the beach."

"Ah, but I like you, remember?"

"Since when?"

Tim chuckled deviously, remembering her earlier response to the same question. "Oh," he began, his voice ridiculously high, laced with an attempted Southern accent, "only since the first time I saw you."

Abruptly Calleigh pulled away from him, staring at him incredulously. "I do not sound like that, Tim!" she protested, smiling despite herself.

"Uh. Yeah. Actually, you do, sort of," Tim replied, keeping his face completely straight. "Especially when you want something -"

Calleigh giggled, tucking her hair behind her ears. "That's not true!" she interrupted.

He smirked. "-not to mention when you insist on arguing, despite knowing you're wrong."

"I'm not wrong!"

"See? You just did it again. I rest my case," Tim said smugly, crossing his arms. He smiled, watching Calleigh grin slightly and look away, trying to hide her tinted cheeks. He knew she didn't do it on purpose; that extra sweet lilt to her voice came just as naturally to her as her Southern charm. It was quite endearing, really. It certainly worked on him every time.

For a moment he simply watched her, letting the silence wash comfortably over them. Calleigh glanced at him, more than slightly unnerved by the intensity in his dark eyes. She fought the urge to squirm nervously, unwilling to let her sudden anxiety show. "What?" she asked quietly, nibbling at her lower lip.

For once, Tim didn't give his usual smirk, nor did he look away with a quiet 'nothing,' and now Calleigh did squirm. Tim wasn't acting like himself, and while it made her nervous, it wasn't exactly an unwelcome nervousness. Tim shifted his body once more, all but touching her now. "Could I…" he began, gazing steadily into her bright green eyes, almost losing himself in them. "Can I do something?"

Calleigh chuckled lightly, her eyes darting to the side for a second before they quickly found his again. Confused, she tilted her head slightly, a questioning grin on her lips. "Do what?" she asked quietly, her eyes sparkling.

Tim didn't reply. The corner of his lip twitched just slightly, and for a moment he paused, letting the moment build; letting Calleigh wonder. He could practically see her mind working; wondering, anticipating.

Suddenly, it became too much. The moment that he'd wanted to last had dragged on too long; even he couldn't stand the suspense any longer. The control over his feelings for her that he'd held onto so long finally snapped. She was so close to him; he could feel every little move that she made, and it drove him crazy. It'd been too long; he could no longer resist.

He was tired of this game. He was tired of being patient; tired of waiting for something to happen on its own. He was tired of resisting the urge to touch her every time she was in the room with him; he was tired of ignoring the sudden itch that rose in his fingers every time her hair fell before her face, hiding her beautiful green eyes.

With a slight grin, he leaned into her, noticing as her eyes widened in surprise, hearing her tiny gasp. Tim hesitated for only a moment, giving her the chance to push him away, though knowing already that she wouldn't.

And with that, Tim finally closed that agonizing distance between them, bringing his lips to hers in the kiss he'd been dreaming about for months, only to discover that finally feeling her lips against his was far better than he'd ever imagined. Already he knew he'd never be able to get enough of her. One kiss; one taste, and he was addicted. There would be no going back.

At that first contact, Calleigh's mind and body both froze for a split second before every inch of her exploded in sensation. Her heart pounded against her chest as endless shivers raced down her spine, spreading through her entire body. It took a moment for her to realize it, but once aware that this was real; that this was really happening, any trace of all other thought left her mind, leaving it empty of all but sensation; empty of everything but Tim. His body, his scent, his lips; whatever wasn't Tim suddenly wasn't important to her. At all.

Lazily Tim threaded his fingers through her hair, gently trying to pull her even closer to him. His lips slid against hers, and he nipped gently at her bottom lip, begging entrance. Calleigh happily complied, her mouth opening to him as a tiny moan escaped from her throat, and if that tiny moan wasn't enough to knock Tim to his knees, then her sweet taste certainly would've done the job, had he been standing.

Far too soon for her liking, Calleigh's lungs began to burn, protesting the lack of oxygen. Dizzy with sensation, she forced herself to break the kiss, though she didn't pull away from him; she wasn't sure she could have done that even if she'd wanted to. Eyes still closed, Calleigh took in a shaky breath, her lips still tingling where his had been only seconds before. Unable to help herself, a contented smile crossed her lips as her eyes fluttered open, immediately locking onto Tim's dark eyes.

He reached up once more, gently sliding her hair behind her ear, relishing in the way she trembled just slightly as his fingers grazed her cheek. "I've been wanting to do that for a while…" he murmured.

Calleigh glanced away, her cheeks slightly flushed. "I'm glad you finally did," she replied quietly after a moment, chuckling nervously.

Tim smirked, tilting her chin toward him again. "You and me both," he replied, leaning in and once more claiming her lips. Not as caught off guard this time, Calleigh quickly deepened the kiss as her hand found its way to his cheek. But this time, Tim had other plans.

Quickly he broke the kiss, grinning at the pout on Calleigh's face. Snickering quietly, he stood, stretching lightly as he turned back to face her, watching her stare right back at him for a moment. "So, you gonna sit there all night?" he teased, extending a hand to her.

Calleigh laughed, taking his hand as she rose to her feet. "What, you know somewhere else we could go?"

Tim smirked, pulling her close, his hands dropping to her hips. "I do believe the beach was part of the plan," he said, loving the smile that graced Calleigh's lips. "And then I thought we could get a late dinner, then we take a nighttime ride on the Ducati." He shrugged, his eyes gleaming. "See where that leads us."

"So we play it by ear," Calleigh clarified with a playful grin, a sparkle in her own eyes. "I think I like that idea."

"I thought you might."

It had started with a casual glance, and with the first, faintest touch, they'd both begun to fall. And now as once more he pulled her to him and lowered his lips to hers, beyond the soft sweetness of her lips and the silky strands of gold that slipped between his fingers, there was only one other thing he was aware of. All those months of torture; those months of seemingly endless agony; the touches, the glances -- all of it had culminated with this.

After all those months, they'd finally found their way into each other's arms.

And finally, it seemed all was falling into place.


End file.
